Shanghai, May 18, 2026 – The 2026 International Welding Equipment & Technology Expo opened today at the Shanghai New International Expo Center, gathering more than 2,500 enterprises and industry experts from across the globe, including ESAB, Lincoln Electric, Panasonic, and Han's Laser. As the global manufacturing industry moves toward intelligence and low-carbon development, the welding machine industry is undergoing a profound transformation, with intelligent automation, green energy conservation, and specialized customization becoming the core drivers, reshaping the market pattern and development trajectory.
Industry data reflects the sector’s steady growth momentum with structural optimization. According to HNY Research, the global welding machine market is expected to grow from $133.14 billion in 2025 to $140.26 billion in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.85% from 2026 to 2031, projected to reach $176.90 billion by 2031. China, the world’s largest producer and consumer of welding machines, achieved a market size of 747.04 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 6.62%, and is expected to reach 798.52 billion yuan in 2026 with a year-on-year growth of 6.89%. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for the largest share of the global market, followed by North America and Europe, with emerging economies in Southeast Asia becoming new growth poles due to accelerating infrastructure construction and manufacturing upgrading.
Intelligent automation has become the core trend reshaping the industry, addressing the global shortage of skilled welding labor and improving production efficiency. In 2025, global sales of welding robots reached 38,200 units, a year-on-year increase of 12.7%, with arc welding robots accounting for 56.3% of total sales, mainly used in automotive, new energy battery, and 3C electronics fields. Intelligent welding equipment integrated with AI visual recognition, adaptive parameter adjustment, and digital twin interfaces accounted for 18.5% of new installations in 2025, an increase of 6.2 percentage points from 2024. These systems can monitor arc stability and seam alignment in real time, making automatic adjustments to reduce defects, while robotic welding systems can maintain up to 95% arc-on time, far exceeding the 20%-50% of manual welders.
Greenization has become an imperative for the industry, driven by global carbon reduction goals and increasingly stringent environmental regulations. Inverter welding machines, which are energy-efficient and environmentally friendly, have become the mainstream of the market, with a global market share of 63.2% in 2025, and their energy consumption is 32.6% lower than that of traditional power frequency equipment. The adoption of short-process electric arc furnace technology is accelerating, and the proportion of recycled steel used in welding materials is continuously increasing. Additionally, the global market for welding fume purification equipment reached $6.8 billion in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 42.6%, as new environmental standards in many countries require welding fume particle emissions to be no higher than 5mg/m³.
Specialized and customized products are becoming new growth engines, driven by the diverse needs of downstream industries. Laser welding machines, in particular, are growing rapidly, with the global market size expected to reach $2.80 billion in 2026, a year-on-year increase of 11.26%. In the new energy vehicle sector, laser welding has replaced traditional resistance spot welding in 89.4% of power battery module welding processes, and the shipment volume of liquid-cooled plate laser welding machines increased by 31.2% year-on-year in 2025. Linear friction welding machines, which are irreplaceable in aerospace and medical fields, achieved a global market size of $1.31 billion in 2025, with China accounting for 36.6% of the market share, showing significant advantages in specialized equipment.
The global competitive landscape is becoming increasingly concentrated, with the top 10 manufacturers accounting for 53.6% of the global market share in 2025, an increase of 2.4 percentage points from 2024. International brands such as ESAB and Lincoln Electric maintain advantages in the high-end market, while Chinese enterprises like Han's Laser and Huagong Technology are rapidly rising in the laser welding field, with the combined market share of the top three Chinese laser welding machine manufacturers reaching 31.7% in 2025. In the inverter welding machine market, Chinese brands account for over 85% of the market share, with Hugong Welding and Jasic Technology as representative enterprises.
Downstream application expansion continues to boost market demand. The automotive and new energy industries are the largest demand sectors, accounting for 36.8% and 22.1% of welding equipment demand respectively. The wind power and photovoltaic industries are also growing rapidly, with the penetration rate of wind power tower circumferential seam automatic welding systems reaching 67.5% in 2025. Additionally, the aerospace, medical, and precision electronics industries are driving demand for high-precision welding equipment, with linear friction welding machines widely used in aerospace engine blades and medical titanium alloy implants.
Despite the positive growth momentum, the industry still faces multiple challenges. The global shortage of skilled welding labor is expected to require 330,000 new professionals by 2028 to fill gaps left by an aging workforce. Fluctuations in raw material prices and supply chain instability also increase production costs for enterprises. In addition, small and medium-sized enterprises face intense pressure from homogeneous competition and technological barriers, with some being merged or withdrawn from the market. The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is also expected to increase export costs for welding machine enterprises in 2026.
Industry experts point out that 2026 is a critical year for the global welding machine industry to achieve structural optimization. The industry will continue to be driven by intelligence, greenization, and specialization, with enterprises shifting from single equipment manufacturing to integrated solutions. Those that focus on technological innovation, scene adaptation, and sustainable development will gain a competitive edge. With the 2026 International Welding Equipment & Technology Expo showcasing the latest technologies and products, the industry is poised to enter a new phase of high-quality development, supporting the modernization and low-carbon transformation of the global manufacturing industry.